


Corrupted

by keiwf



Category: Warframe
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Memory Loss, Mild Language, Platonic Relationships, Post-The Sacrifice, Post-The Second Dream, Sentient Warframes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 21:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15422481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keiwf/pseuds/keiwf
Summary: It has been several weeks since Meira was forced out of the Lua nursery, but the familiar warframe that greeted her there held no memory of the years they spent together in the Old War. The two soon find themselves clashing frequently, despite the warframe's best efforts to win her trust.





	Corrupted

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic here. Any constructive feedback is appreciated :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meira's warframe returns to the ship with a surprise in hopes of pacifying his operator, but is harshly reminded that they are still far from being on friendly terms

“Is… Is this some kind of joke?” The girl asked in a broken voice as she held the familiar item in her hands. An intricate, golden necklace of Orokin making. Just to find one would take hours of searching an abandoned vessel overrun with infested. Of course, only he would be insane enough to take on such a challenge for a mere trinket, as long as he knew it would make her happy.

But he was gone now, and in his place was someone who, day by day, painfully reminded her of the last semblance of family she lost. Prolonged transference had unexpected consequences. When she and the small warframe were reunited on Lua, he did not so much as recognize his old name. And yet, everything about him was exactly the same. His odd little mannerisms, his combat techniques, the mortifying way he greeted complete strangers as old friends - it was as if nothing changed. At times she wondered if this was all some god’s sick means of entertainment. She could rarely find it in herself to even speak with him, aside from the few uneasy moments as these. He was a living, breathing ghost that only existed to haunt her of a mistake she never intended and could never take back.

“I-I- what? I thought you’d like it. You have a lot of similar ones s-so-“ But the nervous volt was immediately cut off as his operator snapped, throwing the necklace to the floor and sending the beads scattering across the cold surface. He was taken aback by the sudden reaction, stepping away cautiously in fear that worse was to come.  
  
No words were spoken between the two for what felt like hours, the air rife with tension. The volt almost considered leaving the scene entirely, sparks of electricity dancing wildly about his figure as the pressure grew. Yet, he also knew he could not leave his operator like this. She was hurting, for reasons he could not quite understand. He wanted to help, but it seemed at every opportunity he was pushed away, as though he himself were the problem. It both saddened and infuriated him. He had only done good for her, but regardless he was met with hate and accusations.  
  
At last, a quiet sob broke the silence, pulling him out of his racing thoughts. The volt was certain he caught a glimpse of a single tear escape beneath his operator’s mask, the same operator he could rarely get so much as a smile out of. 

_“Meira, look!” The excited warframe loudly swung open the cabin door, careless to whatever admonishment the wardens would bring his way. His operator was startled from her slumber, frantically searching for her amp before she identified the unexpected guest. In front of her stood an imposing prototype volt, decorated in an array of fiery colors and an armor set that jutted out in fearsome red spikes - a sharp contrast to his obnoxious, juvenile personality. He was no more than an inch or two taller than his operator, a trait she often wished she never learned the origin of. As she watched him practically vibrate in place with elation, she wondered who in their right mind named him one of their top soldiers. Then again, others would think the same of any of the children aboard. With an exasperated groan, the girl responded coldly, “One of these days I'm gonna accidentally shoot you, Aelius. Can't you knock like a normal person?”_

_“Nope! But look at this, I found it on one of our derelict missions. You were so focused on looting useless garbage around the ship, but **I** explored a bit more and found some really nice stuff,” Aelius explained proudly, a metallic item dangling from his fingers._

_“It wasn’t useless garbage, asshole. We needed ammo and you left me surrounded by infested just because you got bored,” Meira recalled angrily, but took notice of the object he carried, “Is that a necklace?”_

_“Yeah, I thought you’d like it. You have a lot of similar ones, don’t you?” He pointed out enthusiastically, stepping forward and handing over the shiny piece of jewelry. She carefully took it in her gloved hands, surprised her friend was not planning to stash it away in the horde of junk he collected during their assignments. Upon closer inspection, it was far more ornate than she thought. It was no doubt made for an Orokin elite, not a simple tenno child as herself. She honestly could not see herself wearing such a thing at any point, but she appreciated it nonetheless._

_“Thanks, Ael. It’s really nice,” She smiled warmly, moving to place the new addition with the others in her jewelry box._

_“You’re not gonna try it on?”_

_She probably should have known he wasn’t going to leave until she did. “Oh, right,” She said in feigned embarrassment, pushing her curls back as she hooked the necklace on. She prodded at it for a moment, straightening it out until the beads sat in their designated pattern. “There, what do you think?”_

_The warframe seemed ecstatic. “See? It looks great!” He commented cheerfully, but grew concerned at the suddenly downcast expression on her face. “Meira? You alright?” He asked worriedly, wondering if she did not actually like the gift. Not that he would be upset. There were plenty of other uses for the item, such as being stored away and never touched again. After all, he certainly wasn’t going to wear it._

_“Y-Yeah, I just... We’re in a war, and here we are pretending everything’s perfectly fine,” She mused, glancing at her companion who was now listening attentively. “What if we die today, or tomorrow? What if they take one of us away or-“ But she was cut off by an amused chuckle from Aelius. Did he really find their situation that funny? Well, that was not entirely unlike him. She opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly interrupted as he began, “You worry too much, Meira. I mean, you're not wrong, but... we’re here now, aren’t we?" Despite his confidence only moments ago, Meira watched in concern as the bubbly facade disappeared, the energy of her comrade fading each second as reality dawned on both of them. And yet, he still sounded hopeful. One of them had to be. "Just enjoy yourself, and when something happens to one of us, you can look back and remember all the fun we had. Not all the time you spent worrying over things you can’t control.” A single pat on the shoulder was all she received, a familiar pain manifesting in their link._

“How long are you going to torture me?" The child asked, her voice laced with contempt for the warframe. He could only stand speechless at the notion that his kindness was somehow torturing her. Once again, everything boiled down to him being at fault. He wanted to lash out, demand she explain what horrible act he committed to deserve this treatment. Her other warframes received nothing of the sort, especially not that god damned Umbra. Everything that went wrong was because of him, every mission they failed was because of him. His fists clenched at his sides, but he held his tongue. Unfair as it was, his operator did not need any more reason to despise him, and this was definitely not the time.

“I don't understand, operator. Did I do something to upset you? Maybe we can talk about it,” He offered in as soothing a voice as he could muster. However, exhausted and eager to leave the warframe’s company, the girl quickly took off for her quarters. “Op- Meira!” He reached forward, desperate for answers but too late to stop her. He could only watch as the doors at the end of the hall shut closed, his operator disappearing from view. Just like that, it was over, and he was anything but relieved.

Letting out a defeated sigh, he knelt to the floor and assessed the damage to his ill-thought-out present. It was obviously beyond repair. He swore under his breath, picking up the pieces one by one as he muttered to himself, "Well, that was a life-threatening salvage run well-spent."


End file.
